CAROLINE BULLOCK: Are fans really shocked ‘Queen Bey’ was bought? Yes, Beyonce is an LGBTQ+ icon with a beloved gay uncle – but a homophobic mideast dictatorship gave her 24 million reasons to forget all that
Beyonce’s Halo has slipped. The singer who has amassed a $500 million fortune thanks to a once-in-a-generation talent and peerless brand of savvy has shot an own goal by choosing a Dubai hotel for her live comeback.
In a land where homosexuality is illegal and punishment can mean the death penalty, the gig to mark the opening of Atlantis The Royal, the crown jewel of the United Arab Emirates’ tourism industry, is a jarring choice.
Beyonce is a celebrated icon of the gay community, who away from the desert has been lauded as an ally of LGBTQ+ rights.
In 2019, Beyoncé and Jay-Z accepted the Vanguard Award at the 30th Annual GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) Media Awards for their work on behalf of the community. Jay-Z paid tribute to his own mother, Gloria Carter, who is openly gay.
In a 2011 interview, Beyonce once trilled to LGBTQ+ publication, Pride Source, ‘The amount of confidence and fearlessness it takes to do what society may think is different — to be brave and be different and to be yourself — is just so beautiful… Not worrying about satisfying or becoming what other people think you’re supposed to be, that’s like the ultimate dream.’
In Dubai, Beyonce herself seemed a little more inhibited, a world away from her famous alter ego Sasha Fierce.
Notably absent from the one-hour set which reportedly earned her $24 million were any tracks from her recent US number one album Renaissance, said to be inspired by ‘black queer icons’ and dedicated to her late gay uncle she also refers to as her ‘godmother’.
Instead, of smash hit single, Break My Soul, the audience was treated to a syrupy Disney duet with the singer’s 11-year-old daughter Blue Ivy and a rendition of Ave Marie.
Beyonce’s Halo has slipped. The singer who has amassed a $500 million fortune thanks to a once-in-a-generation talent and peerless brand of savvy has shot an own goal by choosing a Dubai hotel for her live comeback.
In a land where homosexuality is illegal and punishment can mean the death penalty, the gig to mark the opening of Atlantis The Royal, the crown jewel of the United Arab Emirates’ tourism industry, is a jarring choice.
Decked out in canary yellow feathers, $7.5 million of bling and flanked by pyrotechnics, the spectacle still couldn’t detract from the whiff of hypocrisy that has sparked widespread condemnation and accusations that the Texas native left her conscience at home.
‘It’s particularly disappointing because in the past, Beyonce has rightfully used her voice and platform to advocate for the rights of LGBTQ+ people in the United States,’ says Céline Assaf Boustani, President at the Human Rights Foundation.
‘What message does it send to the world when she performs in a country where these rights are systematically violated? We urge her and other artists to refrain from lending their credibility to dictatorships and be consistent in their support for rights that are universal — not just for Americans.’
Peter Tatchell, a prominent gay, human rights activist, blasted Beyonce for, ‘Ditching her own progressive values.’
‘It looks like she did this to appease Dubai’s homophobic regime, which has the death penalty for homosexuality,’ he posted. ‘Like many of her LGBT fans, I feel betrayed and angry. Her liberal reputation has taken a hard knock.’
DailyMail.com sent requests for comment to other major American LGBTQ+ rights organizations, the Human Rights Campaign and GLAAD, but has not received a response.
Of course, Beyonce isn’t the first megastar to sell out to the Dubai dollar or appear to have a price on their conviction. In fact, it’s well-worn territory.
The super-rich have form for being easily bought. A limitless and unquenchable thirst to keep adding more and more to their already extraordinary wealth only ramps up the tackiness and duplicity alongside all the political posturing
Take David Beckham’s $180 million ambassadorial stint at the Qatari World Cup last month – another perceived betrayal of the former footballer’s long-established gay fanbase.
At the time, his spokesman burbled, ‘We understand that there are different and strongly held views about engagement in the Middle East but see it as positive that debate about the key issues has been stimulated directly by the first World Cup being held in the region.’
Attempts to defend a dodgy payday often struggle to sound convincing.
Both Mariah Carey and Beyonce feigned ignorance over who had actually booked them when they were outed for performing at private parties for the family of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi back in 2011.
Meanwhile, the Dubai scandal has prompted an odd line of defense from Beyonce’s father Matthew who has praised his daughter’s ability to ‘bring people closer’ with a performance which was apparently a celebration of unity and diversity.
It’s a measure of the popularity and widely regarded creative credibility that Beyonce’s decision to perform in the United Arab Emirates has grated so deeply; people feel let down. Up to now she has demonstrated a rare ability to marry mainstream appeal with a degree of political engagement.
Notably absent from the one-hour set which reportedly earned her $24 million were any tracks from her recent US number one album Renaissance, said to be inspired by ‘black queer icons’ and dedicated to her late gay uncle she also refers to as her ‘godmother’.
Jay-Z paid tribute to his own mother, Gloria Carter, who is openly gay.
In 2019, Beyoncé and Jay-Z accepted the Vanguard Award at the 30th Annual GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) Media Awards for their work on behalf of the community.
Rarely missing an opportunity to assert her social conscience and liberal credentials, the pro-gun control democrat has also been a vocal proponent of female empowerment, body positivity and black rights memorably paying homage to the Black Lives Matter movement, Malcolm X and the Black Panthers, during half time at the Super Bowl in 2013.
As her political capital has risen exponentially with her fame, she has been a starry fixture at all the seminal moments from serenading the Obamas at the inaugural ball with Etta James ‘At Last’ to endorsing Joe Biden on Instagram on the eve of the election.
In her songs, she disses Donald Trump and ‘Karens’ as an embodiment of intolerance, bigotry and oppression.
But all that activity feels a little hollow and tainted as she flies back with her check from a dictatorship.
Great artists tend to be chameleons, sustained by a knack for reinvention and constant creative change. But politics and principles can’t be applied and discarded like a costume or video concept.
True values demand consistency.
Perhaps stars like Beyonce are victims of a complex culture that exerts a pressure to be all things to all people, a zeitgeist that demands activism.
Adoring fanbases demand a social conscience in every single or film release exalting many stars to unsustainable levels.
Yet drifting in and out of activism and their principles to suit the audience and their paymaster will always see these stars called out – as the great ‘Queen Bey’ herself has discovered.
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